THE GEOTRUPES 123 



mould. The lower extremity is romided off like the 

 bottom of the burrow itself ; at the lower end of the 

 sausage is the hatching-chamber, a round cavity which 

 could hold a fair-sized hazel-nut. The respiratory needs 

 of the germ demand that the side-walls should be thin 

 enough to allow easy access to the air. Inside, I catch 

 the gleam of a greenish, semi-fluid plaster, a dainty 

 which the mother has disgorged to form the first mouth- 

 fuls of the budding worm. 



In this round hole lies the egg, without adhering in 

 any way to the surrounding walls. It is a white, elong- 

 ated ellipsoid and is of remarkable bulk in proportion 

 to the insect. In the case of Geotrupes Stercorarius, it 

 measures seven to eight millimetres in length by four in 

 its greatest width. ^ The egg of Geotrupes Hypocrita is 

 a little smaller. 



* '27 to -31 X -IS inch.— Translator's Note. 



